September 17, 2005

Awareness of THE SOLOMON KEY is building, as I can tell by sales of my book THE SOLOMON KEY AND BEYOND: UNAUTHORIZED DAN BROWN UPDATE.

The best part about this e-mail from HarperCollins U.K. was that it confirmed the pub date, October 17.

HarperCollins Publishers: “A FEAST FOR CROWS: Book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
A Feast for Crows brings to life dark magic, intrigue and terrible bloodshed as the war-torn landscape of the Seven Kingdoms is threatened by destruction as vast as any in its violent past. The War of the Five Kings has ripped Westeros apart. The bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunning Lannisters occupy the Iron Throne, with allies as ruthless as themselves. Lord Frey was host at the Red Wedding, so called for the massacre of the guests, their screams unheard above the music of the feast. Euron Crow’s Eye is as black a pirate as ever raised a sail, sworn to deliver the whole of Westeros to the ironborn.

No less to be feared are their enemies. The Starks of Winterfell and the Martells of Dorne seek vengeance for their dead. And the last of the Targaryens, Daenerys Stormborn, will bring fire and blood to King’s Landing when her young dragons reach their terrifying maturity. The last war fought with dragons was a cataclysm powerful enough to shatter the Valyrian peninsula, now a smoking, demon-haunted ruin half drowned by the sea.

Against a backdrop of alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel … and the coldest hearts.

Reviews

‘Fantasy literature has never shied away from grandeur, but the sheer mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads… Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias’ Guardian

‘Truly epic … with its magnificent action-filled climax, it provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites.’ Publishers Weekly

‘I always expect the best from George R.R. Martin and he always delivers A Game of Thrones grabs hold and won’t let go. It’s brilliant.’ Robert Jordan

‘George R.R. Martin is one of our very best writers, and this is one of his very best books.’ Raymon”

HBP Chapter 22 Re-read

“After the Burial”

Ron comes up with the idea for Harry to “get lucky!”  Ron pulls his weight for once!

Interesting that Harry was saving his Felix Felicis for Ginny …

Hermione has a moment of real moral authority when she says “It’s all about stopping Voldemort isn’t it?  These dreadful things that are happening are all down to him.”

When Harry takes the Felix Felicis, interesting to see that he has at least 2/3 of it left.  That’s two giant plot holes that JKR can write herself out of in book seven!  Again I’m wondering if it was really plausible for Slughorn to give this stuff away as part of a class, if there was not perhaps some unseen force acting on him … perhaps Felix Felicis itself? Interesting that “Felix” is personified.

Interesting that the first thing that happens after Harry takes Felix is that his exit under the invisibility cloak leaving Ron  & Hermione apparently alone together starts a fight between Lavender and Ron.   Apparently Felix construes Harry’s “luck” rather broadly to include the welfare and amity of his two best friends!  

“Filch had forgotten to lock the front door…”  – did he forget before or after Harry took Felix?

Slughorn’s good character comes through in several ways in this chapter.  I liked it when he said “I know Dd trusts Hagrid to the hilt, so he can’t be up to anything dreadful.”  So many others have failed to trust Hagrid!

Down at Hagrid’s hut, I loved the image of Areagog lying on its back, “its legs curled and tangled …”, and then when Hagrid threw him into the grave and he “hit bottom with a horrible, rather crunchy thud!”

Slughorn gives Aragog a great send-off.  “Farewell, Aragorn, King of Middle-Earth …” er, I mean, “Farewll, Aragog, king of arachnids.”  S really does the occasion justice!  That’s one good thing about status-focused people like Slughorn, they do have a sense of the positive value of ceremony.

Felix tells H to stay sober and get Slughorn drunk.  Then Felix tells H to say he “forgot” that S liked Lily.   Felix tells Harry S will remember none of this in the morning. Felix gives very specific advice!  Who the devil invented this incredibly powerful potion?

Slughorn says Lily was “Very brave … very funny…” I sure hope we get to meet Lily in some real detail in book seven!

H asks “are you scared Voldemort will find out you helped me?”  

I think it’s to Slughorn’s credit that it seems the real reason for his reluctance is not fear but shame.  “I think I may have done great damage that day … Just don’t think too badly of me once you’ve seen it!”

A great and pivotal chapter, highly enjoyable.



I

Publishers Marketplace: The Latest Deals: “Architect of the U.S. military’s ’shock and awe’ doctrine and mentor to Colin Powell, Harlan Ullman’s SHATTERED DREAMS: How Culture and Crusade are Destroying America — and What We Must Do About It, an exposé asserting that the United States’ political culture and appetite for crusade is more destructive than all of Al Qaeda’s deadly intentions, to Philip Turner at Carroll & Graf, for publication in June 2006, by Peter Rubie at Peter Rubie Literary Agency”

This sounds like it’ll be important to read. The question in my mind is whether it rests on a sloppy conflation of the medieval Crusades and modern American idealism … different mentalities entirely.

Ouch.

NOLA.com: Times-Picayune Breaking News Weblog: ”

Road damages estimated at $2.3 billion
Friday, 8:20 p.m.

By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau

BATON ROUGE – The cost to replace or repair federal, state and local highways and bridges destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina will be about $2.3 billion “and that number will grow’’ Department of Transportation and Development spokesman Mark Lambert said Friday.

Lambert said that about $1.5 billion in damage was done to Interstate highways, major state roads such as Louisiana in Belle Chasse and the I-10 Twin Span linking eastern New Orleans to Slidell.

Repairs to those roads and spans are eligible for funding from the Federal Highway Administration, Lambert said.

Another $775 million in damages was done to parts of the 9,000 mile of so-called “off-system roads’’ in the hurricane’s strike area, roads that are controlled by local government and are not repaired or maintained with federal dollars. Lambert said federal money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be available to help repair replace sections of those highways and bridges.

“That ($2.3 billion) figure is very preliminary,’’ Lambert said. For example, the numbers do not include $35 million to replace or repair traffic signals or traffic signs, especially in the flooded New Orleans area.

Lambert said the entire New Orleans traffic light system may have to be replaced because much of it was under water for days.

The $2.3 billion also does not include damages to state ports, airports, levees or mass transit systems, or possibly help to relieve traffic-choked Baton Rouge streets that are filled with vehicles of New Orleans area evacuees.
“

CNN.com - Chavez: U.S. planning to invade Venezuela - Sep 16, 2005: “That is to say if the government of the United States attempts to commit the foolhardy enterprise of attacking us, it would be embarked on a 100-year war. “

Reading between the lines, he is taking a page from Saddam’s playbook. Don’t resist “shock and awe,” just fade into the jungle for endless insurgency.